Huskers Capture Big Ten Honors

By NU Athletic Communications

| 03/04/2013

Lincoln - Nebraska's Connie Yori was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by her colleagues, while Jordan Hooper earned her second straight first-team award when the All-Big Ten women's basketball teams were announced Monday.

Yori, in her 11th season at the helm of the Huskers, captured her second conference coach-of-the-year award in the last four seasons and her first in the Big Ten. In 2012-13, Yori guided Nebraska to 10 straight conference wins, including a perfect February, as the Huskers finished with a 12-4 Big Ten mark as the regular-season runner-up.

In addition to Hooper being honored on the All-Big Ten first team, Lindsey Moore captured her second consecutive second-team All-Big Ten award, while Rachel Theriot was a unanimous choice on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Sophomore forward Emily Cady added honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades from the conference media for the second straight year.

Yori's young squad overcame a plethora of injuries and a 2-3 Big Ten start to play for a share of the Big Ten title in the regular-season finale against No. 7 Penn State on Sunday at the Devaney Center. Although Nebraska came up short against the Lady Lions, Yori's team finished the regular season with a 22-7 overall record that included a Big Ten-best 7-1 road mark in conference play.

"All postseason awards are about teams more than individuals," Yori said. "Our players had an outstanding season. February is the toughest month in college basketball, and our players met every challenge. The players deserve the credit, along with our tremendous coaching staff."

Yori captured Big 12 Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2010 on her way to WBCA, AP, USBWA, Naismith and Kay Yow National Coach-of-the-Year awards. She led the Huskers to the 2010 NCAA Sweet Sixteen after capturing the Big 12 regular-season title with a perfect 16-0 record. The 2009-10 Huskers, which featured first-team All-American Kelsey Griffin and first-team All-Big 12 picks Cory Montgomery and Yvonne Turner, finished with a 32-2 overall record.

Before becoming Nebraska's head coach in 2002-03, Yori claimed Missouri Valley Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in her final season at Creighton in 2002.

Hooper, a 6-2 forward from Alliance, Neb., earned a repeat selection as first-team All-Big Ten by leading the Huskers in scoring and rebounding with 17.9 points and 8.7 boards per game. The 2012 AP honorable-mention All-American ranked fifth in the Big Ten in scoring, fourth in rebounding and sixth in three-pointers made per game.

Hooper, who was a Big Ten All-Tournament choice in 2012, has earned a total of six Big Ten Player-of-the-Week awards in her two years in the conference, including three this season.

Hooper, a preseason candidate for the Wade, Naismith and Wooden National Player-of-the-Year awards, is Yori's 10th first-team all-conference award winner in Yori's 11 seasons at Nebraska.

Moore added her second straight selection to the All-Big Ten second team. The 5-9 senior point guard from Covington, Wash., led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) while ranking third in the league with 5.4 assists per game. A two-time finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award presented to the nation's top point guard, Moore also finished eighth in the Big Ten in scoring (15.0 ppg), second in three-point field goal percentage (.409) and 10th in overall field goal percentage (.470).

Moore, who was a preseason candidate for the Wade, Naismith and Wooden national player-of-the-year awards, has played more minutes than any other player in school history and has tied All-American Kelsey Griffin school record with 127 career starts. She also ranks second in school history with 662 assists and has scored nearly 1,600 points.

Theriot, a 6-0 guard from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, played a major role for the Huskers down the stretch in conference play. The Big Ten All-Freshman selection averaged 7.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in Big Ten action. She increased her overall season averages to 6.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists, despite playing the entire season with a foot injury. Theriot, who started NU's final 23 games, finished sixth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and 12th in the Big Ten in assists.

While Yori, Hooper, Moore and Theriot all earned awards from the conference coaches, the league's media recognized Cady for her contributions as an honorable-mention All-Big Ten choice. Cady averaged 9.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in conference play while recording five double-doubles in Big Ten action. She finished the regular season by averaging 9.5 points and 8.0 boards overall on the year. Her rebounding average ranked sixth in the Big Ten. Cady, who was a Big Ten All-Freshman choice in 2012, also earned honorable-mention all-conference accolades from the media last season.

Senior Meghin Williams rounded out Nebraska's team honors by claiming a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The 6-1 senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has appeared in 62 straight games despite battling a chronic foot injury throughout her career.

Nebraska returns to action Friday at 11:30 a.m. (central) at the 2013 Big Ten Tournament at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The No. 2 seed Huskers will face the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 Iowa and No. 10 Northwestern. Live national television coverage will be provided by the Big Ten Network.